The thriller, which also features John Goodman, Bryan Cranston and Alan Arkin, was named Best Picture, while Chris Terrio picked up the Best Screenplay prize.
The Master was also a big winner among online critics - Paul Thomas Anderson picked up a trophy for Best Director, while Philip Seymour Hoffman was feted in the supporting actor category. Both are expected to be among the names read out when the Oscar nominations are announced on Thursday (10Jan13).
Others receiving accolades included Daniel Day-Lewis (Best Actor for Lincoln), Jessica Chastain (Best Actress for Zero Dark Thirty), Anne Hathaway (Best Supporting Actress for Les Miserables), and Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola (Best Original Screenplay for Moonrise Kingdom).
ParaNorman was named Best Animated Feature and Cloud Atlas and Skyfall also landed top technical prizes for editing and cinematography, respectively.
The results were announced on Monday (07Jan13).

What controversy? Just one day after earning a 2013 Producers Guild Award nomination, Zero Dark Thirty — which is currently undergoing a review from the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding its depiction of “enhanced interrogation techniques” — continues to its awards season nomination dominance with a nod from the Writer's Guild of America.
ZDT's scribe Mark Boal is among the nominees in the Original Screenplay category, along with Flight (John Gatins), Looper (Rian Johnson), The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson), and Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola). The sci-fi travel mind-bender Looper, which is the bona fide mainstream smash of the bunch, is only improving its Oscar odds with its WGA nod.
That film's biggest competitor thus far this season is Lincoln, which also found itself with a WGA nod. The Tony Kushner-penned Lincoln script (based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln) is up in the Adapted Screenplay category, along with Argo (Chris Terrio), Life of Pi (David Magee), Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell), and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky, who adapted his own material for the screen).
In the Documentary Screenplay category the nominees are The Central Park Five (Sarah Burns, David McMahon, and Ken Burns), The Invisible War (Kirby Dick), Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (Alex Gibney), Searching for Sugar Man (Malik Bendejelloul), We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists (Brian Knappenberger), West of Memphis (Amy Berg and Billy McMillin).
While many of the WGA nominated films are Oscar locks at this point, like ZDT and Lincoln, other expected surefire things such as Les Miserables, Django Unchained, Amour were snubbed, as were wild cards like Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and Skyfall. The deadline for Oscar voters is today and the nominations will be announced on January 10. The WGA awards, including the TV nominees (which were announced last month) will be given out on Sunday, February 17, 2013 during simultaneous live broadcasts in New York and Los Angeles.
[Photo credit: Columbia Pictures]
More: 'Skyfall,' 'Lincoln,' 'Silver Linings Playbook' Among 2013 Producers Guild Award Nominees
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'Lincoln’, ‘Les Misérables’ Lead 18th Annual Critics Choice Movie Awards Nominations From Our Partners: ’Buckwild’ Stars Talk ‘Jersey Shore’ Comparisons: ‘I Ain’t Paying For No Tan’ (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO) (Celebuzz) Oscars 2013: Best Picture Race Is Down to ‘Lincoln’ Versus ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ (Moviefone)

Every movie critic in the known world sees hundreds of movies every year, mostly for free, and then they sit down and distill everything they see into a Top 10 list. But what about all the other movies they've seen? How can we even know what their taste is like if we don't know how they felt about the other 98.7 movies they saw that year (that .7 is for the one movie they walked out of at Cannes because they just couldn't possibly get through it all). And they get to see all the movies before the rest of us, so everyone put Zero Dark 30 on their Top 10 lists and it's not even out in most of the country right now. This whole gambit of list making is a scam!
Well, to combat all that critical scammery and art house movie snobbery, here is a list of every single movie that I saw in a movie theater during the calendar year 2012. There are 65 of them. I paid to see 54 of them, so unlike the professional cinema elite, I saw a majority of these with you, the fans, on rainy Saturday afternoons and boring Tuesday evenings. I also spent about $17 trillion for the honor. And here is my opinion on every single movie I saw in a theater. Are you ready?
1. Silver Linings Playbook: If I was giving out the Oscars today, I would hand it over to this David O. Russell movie, even though I'm still a little bit mad about how he treated Lily Tomlin. This is the type of movie I like best, one that hews closely to a set format but does it so well that it busts out of the genre entirely. This should be your basic rom-com, but made in the hands of someone with care and insight, it is also a look at mental illness, loss, redemption, family, dance competitions, and just how difficult it is to stand out in suburban America. Bolstered by great performances including by the usually milquetoast Bradley Cooper and the always astounding Jennifer Lawrence. There's even a good turn by Robert De Niro, whose modern work is about as uniformly bland as a can full of Slim Jims at a gas station mini-mart. Smart, different, and extremely winning, this is a movie that is like a million you've seen before, but somehow manages to break the mold.
2. Argo: This deserves to be at the top of the list for Ben Affleck's hair alone, but this affecting thriller about American hostages in Iran fuses drama, comedy, and some (yes, made-up) tension to make real events spectacular.
3. The Sessions: What seems like a sweet movie about a mostly paralyzed man learning how to have sex turns out to be a very sweet movie about a mostly paralyzed man learning to have sex: an engaging story that goes for the heart without getting sentimental. John Hawkes better start winning some damn awards.
4. Headhunters: Not many people went to see this Norwegian film about a headhunter who uses people's job interviews to break into their houses and steal all their art, but you're really missing out. As the movie progresses, our anti-hero gets more and more desperate and things get grosser and grosser as he tries to find a way to get his life back to normal. Normal never comes, but the twists don't stop until the very end.
5. Queen of Versailles: If you love the Real Housewives of Every American Town, then you need to see this documentary about a family trying to build the largest house in America and losing everything in the process.
6. Cabin in the Woods: I do not enjoy horror movies, but this movie, contrary to its marketing, is not really a horror movie. It's a comedy, a comment on genre, and a meta look at how we consume and enjoy movies. Its cleverness never becomes twee and the ending is so good that if anyone spoils it for you, you should sic Freddy Krueger on their ass.
7. How to Survive a Plague: This documentary about the early days of AIDS activism is just as fascinating when examining lives of the heroes who risked everything to get patients experimental medication as when their organization ACT-UP falls apart because of its own success. There's also a 10-hankie twist three-quarters of the way through which shows the path toward hope.
8. ParaNorman: The best kids movies are the ones that take adult themes (like bullying, not fitting in, and troubled family dynamics) and make them suitable for children. If you can do that in a great story about witches and zombies that is full of first-rate gags, then, well, you deserve to be in the Top 10.
9. Skyfall: Daniel Craig is great. James Bond is great. When you get them both doing the best work the franchise has done in decades, well, that's just greatness squared.
10. Farewell My Queen: Oh great, another movie about Marie Antoinette. But if you see any movies about the privileged aristocrat, it should be this one. The film is told through the eyes of a servant girl trying to survive the final days of the French aristocracy while staying true to herself and her queen.
11. The Avengers: Sure, the story for this culmination of the last five years of Marvel superhero movies was a bit complicated and contrived, but Joss Whedon knows how to keep us laughing and engaged for two-plus hours of super powers, alien invasions, and Hulk transformations. This is what you want every blockbuster to be like.
12. Your Sister's Sister: This "mumblecore" movie about a lesbian who sleeps with her sister's best friend seems like it should be a cut-and-paste character study about Pacific Northwest hipster types, but the emotional turns keep coming and the complications seems revelatory rather than contrived. Bonus points to Emily Blunt for finally making a really stellar movie.
13. Cloud Atlas: Everyone hated this ambitious project that tried to roll six movies into one. I did not. It had its problems, but from what I saw, it was the most successful of this year's overly ambitious movies. Sure, some of it was totally nuts, but it was always entertaining.
14. Chronicle: Finally, a way to do the "found footage" movie that doesn't seem like a total scam. This story about three teenagers who get telekinetic powers was the first truly experimental entry into the superhero genre we've seen in a long time. Let's hope the sequel doesn't screw it up.
15. Miss Bala: If you want to see the destruction drug cartels have created in Mexico, then try this saga about a beauty queen whose life gets increasingly desperate as she tries to find a way out of an impossible situation.
16. 21 Jump Street: Channing Tatum is funny. Go figure!
17. The Dark Knight Rises: Too long, too complicated, and too politcally murky, this finale to a great triology still managed to be pretty awesome. Most of that is due to Miss Anne Hathaway (Selina Kyle).
18. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: A spy thriller so unemotional, it should have been called All These Men Came in from the Cold. Still a great mind-bender.
19. Magic Mike: Considering how much naked male flesh per capita this movie promised, I wanted to like it more. I think I would have if it hadn't been marketed as a good time feast of flesh and then delivered a dour rumination on sex and longing. That rumination was worth having, but we were sold strippers and glitter and given heartbreak and desperation.
20. Looper: I hate time travel and even I loved this truly inventive dystopian action movie. It gets credit for having the most original vision of the future that we've seen in a long time.
21. Moonrise Kingdom: It's too twee for its own good, but Wes Anderson's story about young love is winning and memorable. And you can't hate anything with Tilda Swinton.
22. The Master: Oh, man. This one. Paul Thomas Anderson knows how to make a beautiful film and knows how to get a stellar performance, but this tale about a guru and the animalistic man who becomes his right-hand never really adds up to much. But what good are great characters if you don't give them anything exciting to do?
23. Life of Pi: For a movie that creates such amazing visuals using boats sinking into the ocean and whales jumping out of it, it's ironic that the story is as shallow as a half-evaporated puddle.
24. Pitch Perfect: Good songs, great jokes, Rebel Wilson, and a puke scene that will make you bust a gut – this Glee-on-film flick has everything you need.
25. Max et les Ferrailleurs: Someone dragged me to the delayed American release of this 1971 French movie about a cop who goes too far undercover investigating petty criminals. I'm glad he did, not only for the great retro outfits, but for the emotionally complicated look at a familiar story.
26. The Dictator: As long as you don't have a problem with rape jokes, this is a silly good time.
27. The Amazing Spider-Man: Not every superhero needs to be remade as dark and brooding and not every superhero franchise needs to be remade.
28. The Hunger Games: I loved the book, but the movie just didn't have the weight and dread that the books conjured. However, I'll see Jennifer Lawrence in anything.
29. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Never read the book, but I liked the movie well enough. I mostly liked Daniel Craig's winter wardrobe, which is funny because I usually like him wearing next to nothing.
30. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: Old people in India are cute, aren't they?
31. Lawless: Tom Hardy gives one of those great silent performances where you just read everything about his defiant bootlegger character on his face. Shia LaBeouf is...well, he's in this movie.
32. Wanderlust: My New Year's resolution for 2012 was to hate Jennifer Aniston less. This modern day hippie movie sure helped. But I think I liked it mostly for Paul Rudd.
33. Beauty and the Beast 3D: Tale as old as time. True as it can be. I saw it again. With a group of friends. We saw it in 3D.
34. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: This Tolkien prequel was more bloated the your fat grandmother after Thanksgiving dinner.
35. Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel: This is a lackluster documentary with a magnificent subject. If you don't know everything about this former Vogue editor, then get the movie right away.
36. Wreck-It Ralph: I wanted this video game nostalgia trip to be like The Incredibles for a Nintendo generation. Instead, the only cute thing about it was the Q-Bert gags.
37. This is 40: Judd Apatow takes an interesting and unvarnished look at middle age but a good portion of the movie is as unnecessary as a third cupcake.
38. A Cat in Paris: Stellar animation and a rather grown-up story still couldn't save this mediocre kid's flick.
39. Snow White and the Huntsman: Even the absolute fierceness of Charlize Theron's evil queen couldn't fix this eye-rolling wretch of a fairy tale.
40. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol: I remember enjoying this action movie, but don't remember one single thing about it. Guess it couldn't be that good.
41. Albert Nobbs: 2012 was a year of great performances in dull movies. There were two women playing men in this one, both worth checking out, but maybe in a better script.
42. John Carter: Oh, come on. It wasn't that bad. It was pretty and moved along and Taylor Kitsch had his shirt off the entire time!
43. Seven Psychopaths: Too clever for its own good, this making-a-movie-about-making-a-movie had some keen insights that got lost in a lot of mush.
44. Premium Rush: This year, Joseph Gordon-Levitt could do no wrong. Well, maybe except for this slightly absurd but still good fun biking movie.
45. The Secret World of Arriety: This is animation master Hayao Miyazaki at his worst, trying to turn the children's fare The Borrowers into something of his own. The animation was stellar as always, but the narrative could have used some of his signature mythological flourishes.
46. Les Miserables: I always hated the show and the movie suffers from the same problems: too long, too boring, and doesn't make any sense. Added to that the direction swoops in on the actors as they sing and over emote during their solos. This goes a little higher up on the list thanks to Anne Hathaway (enjoy that Oscar, sister) and because "Castle on a Cloud" got stuck in my head for a week.
47. Django Unchained: Quentin Tarantino thinks that he is so funny, and his smugness in his own hilarity is all over this movie, where each scene goes on too long and half of the story is unnecessary. What Tarantino needs more than anything is a good editor.
48. Prometheus: I really wanted this to be better and I thought I liked this Alien prequel until, well, I thought about it some more and it really didn't make any sense. But I will never forget her nasty alien abortion. Gross.
49. Friends With Kids: This Jennifer Westfelt rom-com was an interesting experiment in trying to make a rom-com that wasn't a rom-com at all, but, in the end, it became just like every other sappy Hollywood movie it pretended to hate in the first place.
50. Bachelorette: This Bridesmaids rip off wasted Rebel Wilson, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fisher, Rebel Wilson, and the rest of the talented cast. Even worse, writer director Leslye Headland wasted her brilliantly caustic play by turning it into a toothless, conventional movie.
51. Hitchcock: Great makeup does not a great movie make. Like My Week with Marilyn before it, this thing was like an overly long Vanity Fair article come to life.
52. The Iron Lady: Meryl deserved that Oscar. The rest of us deserve to forget this sloppy movie forever.
53. Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston: A great subject wasted on a filmmaker who has no idea what he is doing and thinks we care as much about him as the fashion icon. The best scene in the movie is when Vogue legend Andre Leon Talley yells at director Whitney Smith for not having done his research.
54. Five-Year Engagement: This felt like it went on for not five years but 20. Oh, Emily Blunt, please stop making bad movies.
55. Savages: The best I can say for this overly-violent, utterly rote Oliver Stone drug drama is that everyone looks really good with their clothes off.
56. Hysteria: I went to see this on a Friday afternoon in the summer in an empty theater in Manhattan. It was literally empty except for me and a friend and two people sat in the seats directly behind us and then talked through the movie! I had to yell at them and tell them to shut up and move because there are hundreds of seats, you don't pick the ones that are directly behind the only two other people in the theater. Then I felt bad because this dildo drama was so boring I wanted to make fun of it with my friend, but since I made a stance about being quiet in the movies I had to keep it all in. Well, until now.
57. Pina: This documentary about choreographer Pina Bausch had some of the best 3D I'd ever seen. Too bad there was too much repetitive dancing and not enough about her life.
58. Flight: This is not a movie, it's an illustrated story from an AA meeting. The plane crash at the beginning is pretty amazing though.
59. Wrath of the Titans: This Greek Mythology something-or-other makes about as much sense as a unicorn having a baby with a Sphinx.
60. The Ocean Waves: OK, I was wrong, this is Miyazaki at his worst. I saw this at a retrospective of his work at IFC Center and it had never been shown in the U.S. before. Let's hope this overblown teen melodrama is never shown here again either.
61. Dark Shadows: Why did we have to waste Michelle Pfieffer's comeback on this?
62. W.E.: As an American Homosexual, I can not say anything mean about Madonna. I will say that Madonna's nonsensical movie about Wallis Simpson looked like the most gorgeous magazine pictorial I ever saw. Oh, and I saw this at the premiere and Madonna was there. She wore a nice dress.
63. Damsels in Distress: I don't know what Whit Stillman was trying to say in this outdated take on girls in college, and I don't think I want to know either.
64. Chasing Mavericks: How did someone convince me to pay money to see a movie with Gerard Butler? The only reason this wasn't in last place is because the surfing footage was absolutely stunning.
65. Killing Them Softly: What makes this movie the worst is that it (and plenty of other people) think it is one of the best. It is not. It is about Brad Pitt going to clean up some mob mess and there are a bunch of characters all of whose arcs are going nowhere. There is no character exploration, there is no thematic development, there is nothing. That includes women (there is literally one woman in this movie and she is a whore) or sense behind the glorified violence. Yeah, it looks pretty cool, but most of it doesn't leave any commentary on violence it all. It's just gore for the sake of it. Oh, and in case you missed it, the point is that the mob is just like America or politics or something, which is why we keep hearing Barack Obama give speeches about our economic future during the action of the movie. Yes, we get it. We get it. How about some subtlety next time?
Follow Brian Moylan on Twitter @BrianJMoylan
[Photo Credit: The Weinstein Company (2); Warner Bros (2); Lionsgate; Fox Searchlight; Focus Features; Columba Pictures (2); Walt Disney; Universal Pictures]
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Growing old is a part of every person's life, a universal source of anxiety that's scrutinized beyond comprehension by both individuals and the world around them. Few people enjoy talking about their age... making it the perfect subject for writer/director/producer Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) to confront head on.
Unlike most, Apatow has been working his present job since his early 20s, when he was a writer on 1992's short-lived but much-revered Ben Stiller Show. Two decades later, he's one of the most important faces in the world of comedy. With his new film This Is 40, Apatow confronts his own longevity, following a couple (played by Paul Rudd and Apatow's real life wife, Leslie Mann) as they near the milestone age and jump every hurdle that comes with it. The film is recognizably personal. But for Apatow, there's an added layer of introspection happening on screen. Apatow's aging experiences have occurred under in the lens of show business, an industry where modern relevance is key.
The maintenance of this relevance is not an easy task, and one Apatow is certainly aware of. Hollywood.com sat down with the actor to discuss growing up in Hollywood, how he continues to stay funny after all these years, and his eagerness to collaborate with young performers, like Lena Dunham, Seth Rogen, and even Megan Fox. And because The Master director Paul Thomas Anderson really loves Heavyweights, we can't help but bring up Apatow's misunderstood Disney classic:
As you've told many people, you drew a lot from your own life in This Is 40. But do you think working in Hollywood has made you more aware of age?
Judd Apatow: I don't think about it a ton, but every once in awhile I think, "What if slowly I lose my sense of humor and I don't know it. And everyone in the world knows I'm not funny but me." [laughs]
How do you stay conscious of that?
Apatow: I try and think of people who are hysterical when they're old like Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner and Woody Allen. I think, "It's possible! You can stay sharp forever!" I just have to keep an eye on what they're doing. You know, Mel Brooks has a new special. He's 86-years-old and the entire special is him doing an interview and it's so hysterical that they made it an HBO special. It's just him talking to a guy for an hour and a half! And he did the exact same special a year ago with Dick Cavett! Because he's so funny, he can sit in a chair and make you laugh for an hour.
Do you talk to older comedians about that challenge of staying relevant?
Apatow: I never ask them directly about staying relevant, it's just certain people stay fully, intellectually engaged. It's not that they change their sense of humor, like suddenly Mel Brooks is working in an edgy, current genre. [laughs] I'd go as far to say, "Who has made an edgier movie than Blazing Saddles?" I mean, you couldn't even make Blazing Saddles today, it's so ballsy. He remains hysterical in the way he's hysterical. Hopefully I'll be just as lucky.
Along with This Is 40, I was fortunate enough to watch your movie Heavyweights with the new Blu-ray commentary you recorded. Thinking about you then and now...
Apatow: Oh yes, I had long beautiful hair! [laughs]
You were young when you wrote and produced that movie — I think you say 26 in the commentary. Do you look to collaborate with younger people because of your own early experiences? Does recalling your earlier work impact what you do now?
Apatow: I'm just a fan of comedians. I try and figure out how to get talented people [to] get their ideas across. It really doesn't matter what age they are. It is fun working with young people at the moment when they're first trying to figure out how they can develop their screen persona. So it was fun working on 40-Year-Old Virgin and Bridesmaids and working with Seth [Rogen] on Superbad and Knocked Up. But I had an amazing time working with Albert Brooks and John Lithgow on This Is 40, and being with people who were brilliant with their craft and had so much to offer. In a lot of ways, that was a new experience for me. I found it equally fulfilling. So who knows, maybe I'll find the courage to work with Dame Judi Dench.
I think the Marigold Hotel sequel is looking for a director.
Apatow: Exactly!
Do you think you've learned anything as a director from the younger people you've worked with? Even on a film that's about turning 40?
Apatow: Absolutely. Superbad had such a strong comedic point-of-view. We had been kicking it around for a long time — I was producing it for him and his writing partner Evan [Goldberg]. But we couldn't get it made. And in the period that we couldn't get it made, we wrote Knocked Up, and we got that made. And I'm sure working on Superbad influenced how hard we went at a certain edgy type of comedy in Knocked Up. He had a big influence.
And working with Lena Dunham I'm sure influenced This Is 40, because I was seeing someone being so courageous in her choices. It made me want to have the courage to take a lot of risks with my movie. Being around someone like Lena, who is a real visionary, it definitely inspires me.
What about someone like Megan Fox, a young performer but not someone who is known as a "comedic voice"?
Apatow: Megan Fox is an example of a person who people see as a gorgeous woman, and people put them in a box because of one definition. Leslie and I saw her on Saturday Night Live and we instantly thought she was hysterical. We could tell there was so much more going on if she had the opportunity to present to people. So for me, that becomes a major opportunity. I get to be the person to show everyone that Megan Fox is also riotously funny.
So she came in and read with us and improvised and had so many funny and bizarre ideas for her character. I'm really proud of the fact that her work in the movie is so strong. And she's such a nice person, it's great to help somebody get to show more of their colors.
The movie ends up chronicling so many different scenarios for the characters. How did you know how much you could cram into one movie? At times I felt like I was watching one of your television shows.
Apatow: I was definitely influenced, and am probably more influenced these days, by television and shows like Mad Men and The Sopranos. I wanted something that was random, like life. You never know where it's going to go at any moment. You can have a great moment, then life falls apart — then something great happens at the end of the day. That's accurate to what our lives are like.
And I like when you see a movie and you don't know where it's going. There's no clear goal. It's just life, just this week. There isn't a treasure map and they're not trying to find the gold. They're just trying to get to the end of the week and put their birthdays behind them.
When you're making a movie, how do you discern what is random in a way that mimics life versus what is random in a way that's meandering? I assume there's a risk.
Apatow: I watch it with people and I can tell when they're engaged. So, in addition to how much they're laughing — because when people start getting bored, the laughs get smaller and smaller — but also, when there's a new plot point and you hear the whole crowd gasp, you go, "Oh, they're paying attention." I often joke that it's hard to know when the drama's working, because when the joke works, people make a noise. I wish when the drama works there would be a noise. Sometimes there's a "Uh! Ahh!" [laughs] But I think when they like the people and want the best for them, people get deeply involved. I don't need a murder.
Is going back to television with your own original concept something you're still interested in?
Apatow: I'm definitely not closed off to it. I'm having such a good time working on Girls that it's reminded me how much freedom you have on television to be creative. And it would be nice not to worry if scenes got laughs! When we make Girls episodes, I write a few here and there with Lena, it makes me happy to put them on television without having tested them and not wondering how people will react. Do it based on the gut and the story — that's it. Shows don't have to have resolutions that are so clean. With movies, there's a little more of a demand that people learn something.
You've got to have that lesson.
Apatow: It's hard not to have a lesson. But in television, you can end on an awkward moment or a sad moment or a happy moment — you have a different level of freedom.
Another Heavyweights question: on the Blu-ray you mention that Paul Thomas Anderson [director of The Master] loves the movie. I'm curious why he loves it.
Apatow: [Laughs] That's a good question, I'm not sure I know. For a few years, we had the same agent, and he told me he was a big fan of Heavyweights. He was working with Adam [Sandler] on Punch Drunk Love. And it was a great point of pride for me.
You can't get a much better endorsement.
Apatow: I think when you watch The Master, you feel some Heavyweights influence.
Do you talk to Paul, or other filmmakers who might be outside of your sphere of interests, about filmmaking? Ways to evolve the way you work?
Apatow: I don't, but I do ask them to watch my cuts. Ask for input. Sometimes I just want to see if I'm crazy. So I'll show Paul the movie and go, "Does this make any sense at all or am I off base for even attempting this?" He's been kind enough to look at cuts of some of my movies, and has been very helpful.
I go to my heroes when I'm figuring out the edit. In the past, James Brooks has looked at the movies, Jay Roach [Austin Powers], Cameron Crowe, Ron Howard... I'll do anything to find out what I'm doing wrong from the people I respect.
I assume you in turn watched The Master and gave notes about where jokes would fit.
Apatow: Exactly. I was the punch-up guy!
[Photo Credit: Universal Pictures; Walt Disney Pictures]
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Year's end is close upon us and the Hollywood.com staff is finally ready to weigh in on the best of the best of big screen. We sat through movie after movie, January through December, to give you a definitive list of 2012's stand out films. Who made the cut? Read on for our writers' picks for the best movies of the year:
The Best
21 Jump Street (Picked By Kate Ward)
The reboot of the 1980s series starring Johnny Depp had everything going against it: It was released during the industry's March dead zone, which also happened to coincide with disinterested audiences' increasing desire to give all Hollywood reboots the boot. But 21 Jump Street jumped past all these hurdles, becoming not only one of Hollywood's few entertaining reboots, but one that showcased the surprising comedic talents of 2012's A-list breakout Channing Tatum. And in a year full of blockbuster tentpoles (The Hunger Games, Breaking Dawn — Part 2, and The Dark Knight Rises) and Oscar bait (Argo, Les Misérables, and Django Unchained), how could you not lend some support to 2012's true underdog?
Amour (Picked By Matt Patches)
In the last 20 years, Michael Haneke has explored every facet of human evil, no act of violence or shame too perverse for his cinematic journeys. Amour is new territory for the auteur, certainly his sweetest film to date, yet continuing his trend of forcing us to confront our deepest fears as emotional beings. With two powerful performances by French actors Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant, Haneke's film follows an elderly couple who grapple with staying sane in the final moments of their lives. Anne (Riva) is bed-stricken and barely aware of her surroundings. Georges (Trintignant) dedicates his every minute to taking care of her. The audiences watches, inspired, shocked, and warmed by the simple, raw drama of it all.
Anna Karenina (Picked By Abbey Stone)
Jon Wright's luscious, highly stylized adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's classic story of love and despair divided critics, but I was captivated by it. A departure from Wright's sweeping retellings of such literary masterpieces as Pride and Prejudice and Atonement, Anna Karenina is claustrophobic, physically and figuratively. By trapping his characters in the ever-moving sets of an imperial theater (used to its best advantage in a heart-stopping horse race scene), Wright illustrates the rigid, suffocating bounds of Russian society life. Tom Stoppard's screenplay, meanwhile, takes Tolstoy's tome and strips it down to simple language that conveys the most elemental of human desires. The gorgeous costumes, actors, and landscape (a literal breath of fresh air when you venture outside the stifling theater) all compliment one another to create the film's mesmerizing dreamscape.
Argo (Picked By Kelsea Stahler)
It may be a mind-bending thought to suppose that a Ben Affleck film may be in the running for an Oscar, but Argo is unavoidable in the conversation about who’ll take the awards stage in February of next year. But the reason it stands out as a favorite in 2012 isn’t owed to any fancy behind-the-scenes footwork. This film hearkens back to an older time in both setting and style; it’s got a few frill and all the suspense and soul audiences require of a great movie. Heck, it’s even got a few moments of tense humor, which is practically requisite of a film that involves the production of a fake Star Wars rip-off as a resolution to a harrowing hostage situation. Argo is by no means the most perfectly-crafted film of 2012, but it rises to the top tier as one of the more solidly enjoyable and diverting films of the year. And since it’s based on a true story, you might even learn a thing or two.
The Avengers (Picked By Sydney Bucksbaum)
The Avengers rounded up all the Marvel movie superheroes in what could have been a film reminiscent of Michael Bay: gratuitous action and destruction of major cities, with little to no plot. Thankfully, with Joss Whedon at the helm, we were gifted with a snarky, funny, cinematically stunning, emotionally deep look at what motivates the men and woman behind the masks. Plus, watching the Hulk throw Loki around like a wet towel was insanely gratifying. This movie got us extremely excited for the next phase of the Marvel superhero movies, beginning with Iron Man 3, which will commence immediately after the events of The Avengers. We’ll finally get a chance to see what happens after all the death and destruction of superhero fights.
Beasts of the Southern Wild (Picked By Aly Semigran)
Benh Zeitlin's stunning debut about a brave, fierce little girl named Hushpuppy (miniature force of nature Quvenzhané Wallis) living in a post-storm bayou with her detiriorating, alcoholic father Wink (fellow impressive newcomer Dwight Henry) is an exhilarating, overwhelming experience. (To call it a tearjerker might imply you've had any tears left afterwards.) While the film may, in part, be about the awesome power of nature, it's really about love and the incredibly strength we can find in ourselves in the most challenging situations. In addition to the brilliant performances and masterful direction, Beasts also had the best musical score of any film this year.
Cabin in the Woods (Picked By Shaunna Murphy)
After an eons-long release delay, Cabin in the Woods finally made its way to theaters this spring — and for this, I thank the vicious, vengeful Gods. I would gladly sacrifice a gaggle of idiots for this perfect blend of (dare I say it?) meta, self-aware horror-comedy. The dialogue and wink-wink horror tropes were endlessly entertaining, while still being pretty scary — and not just while you're stoned, though Fran Kranz' Marty makes a pretty good case for legalization. Also, it's Bradley Whitford's best work in years. Also also, Richard Jenkins.
Cloud Atlas (Picked By Matt Patches)
Cloud Atlas was an ambitious movie the directors of The Matrix spent years trying to convince investors could work, but the result was worth the wait. A sprawling, interconnected story chronicling life's biggest challenges and the human spirit that overcomes them, Cloud Atlas is a big screen experiment that makes full use of its canvas. Spanning the 19th Century to the post-apocalyptic future, the Wachowskis, working with co-director Tom Tykwer, used special effects and A-List actors to tackle grand themes with a three-hour movie that stands as one of 2012's only true epics.
The Comedy (Picked By Matt Patches)
Tim Heidecker has made a career out of pushing the boundaries of "acceptable" comedy, but little did we realize he was only scratching the surface of the artform's subversive nature. In The Comedy, the actor loses himself in Swanson, a terrorist of the deadpan variety. Heidecker takes privileged young people to task in a tour-de-force performance that's hilarious, terrifying, and completely mesmerizing. Director Rick Alverson strips down the New York City landscape to its ugliest, laying on a rumbling soundscape to ensure our descent into Hell isn't too comfortable. The Comedy isn't easy to swallow, but for anyone looking for a challenge, it's a satisfying meal.
The Deep Blue Sea (Picked By Christian Blauvelt)
A tear-stained reverie of faded love and heartbreak, director Terence Davies’ first narrative film since 2000’s equally devastating The House of Mirth is the year’s most thoughtful, introspective character study. Rachel Weisz, in a career-best performance, plays a woman in 1950s London caught between her uncontrollable, adulterous passion for a former RAF pilot (Tom Hiddleston) and her awareness that he’s a total cad, unworthy of her (or any woman’s) love. So she thinks that suicide is the only way to reconcile head and heart. Set during the course of one day—the day on which Weisz’ character has decided to end her life—Davies’ delicate camera expands the parameters of the Terrence Rattigan play on which it’s based through a mosaic of flashbacks that chart the progression of her affair, including the most haunting depiction of The Blitz you’ll ever see.
The Hunger Games (Picked By Leanne Aguilera)
"May the odds be ever in your favor.” This past March, audiences were led through a whirlwind of raw emotions and heart-pounding adventures as 24 tributes schemed, fought, and killed in the brutal quest to be the winner of the 74th Annual Hunger Games. The first installment of Suzanne Collins' best-selling trilogy The Hunger Games was triumphantly transferred to the big screen, overall becoming the highest grossing female-led action film of all time. And for many book fans, hearing Jennifer Lawrence desperately call out, “I volunteer as tribute!” brought chills of excitement and satisfaction to know that they have cast the perfect Katniss Everdeen to eventually rise up against the Capitol as the Mockingjay that we all know, fear and love."
Lincoln (Picked By Kelsea Stahler)
This historical drama couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. Just as our country teeters on a precipice, demanding compromise and change, Lincoln sweeps into to tell the story of one of the nation’s most honorable politicians as he affected one of those most important and necessary changes in our history through less-than honorable means. Daniel Day-Lewis is could not be more perfect to capture the intimate portrait of the 16th American president, a man many of us presume to know from school-day history lessons. The film glosses over a few historical points of Lincoln’s move to pass the 13th Amendment before the end of the Civil War, eschewing them for the more dramatic moments, but in a landscape of Captain Americas and Iron Men, it’s a comfort to enjoy a film about an American hero whose strength was of conviction instead of brawn.
Magic Mike (Picked By Aly Semigran)
Don't call it the Channing Tatum stripper movie. Steven Soderbergh's sleek, smart, and — yes, sexy — slice of Americana is so much more than that. Part buddy comedy, part cautionary drama, the well-written and well-acted (Channing, who knew?) Magic Mike was a genuine risk taker that paid off big as the thinking woman's fantasy antidote to Fifty Shades of Grey. Plus, Matthew McConaughey's supporting turn as an sociopathic strip club owner is worth losing your shirt over.
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (Picked By Lindsey DiMatinna)
This movie was so much fun. I love all the crazy plot lines, especially watching Alex fall in love. But, the circus performance at the end was totally brilliant, especially in 3D. The 3D effects made all the action in this movie come alive right in front of me and made me feel like I was a part of the cartoon story. Yes, I am still a kid at heart.
Moonrise Kingdom (Picked By Alicia Lutes)
It's almost too easy for people to find reasons to dislike or poo-poo the work of Wes Anderson. It's "too precious" or "too indie," detractors cry in a flurried, expected manner. But with his 2012 release, Moonrise Kingdom, we saw Anderson's deft hand take a well-guided stab at childhood, romance, and the heart one develops from living in those moments. It's whimsical in the way all childhood memories are, but grounded in a wonderful story outside of its beautiful scenery and charms. Richly-developed characters, a need to escape, and the raw emotion of living—this is what makes 'Moonrise Kingdom' a highlight of 2012. Performance highlights include Bill Murray (duh), Frances McDormand, Bruce Willis, and our young heroes Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward.
Oslo, August 31 (Picked By Christian Blauvelt)
Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s second film, ‘Oslo, August 31,’ lets the world unfold during the course of a single day through the eyes of a character contemplating suicide. In this case, it’s Anders (Anders Danielsen Lie), a 34-year-old guy with intellectual pretensions who’s let out of a drug-rehab clinic for one day to attend a job interview with a magazine. As the title suggests, the movie is also something of a city symphony for Norway’s capital, which Trier (yes, he’s distantly related to Lars) calls “the suburb of Europe.” ‘Oslo’ is purely a cerebral affair, with a character who rationalizes his irrational choices in a way that’s stunningly logical…and all the more unsettling for it.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Picked By Michael Arbeiter)
It’s no easy feat to turn a universally life-changing coming-of-age novel into an equally powerful feature film. Granted, it doesn’t hurt to have the novel’s author at the helm of the movie — such is the case The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which author Stephen Chbosky adapted from the very book that turned high school around for so many sad and lonely teenagers into a piece of cinema with just as dynamic an emotional force. The film’s starring players — a Logan Lerman stuck in his own head, an Emma Watson drenched in self-contempt, and (best of all) a hilarious and heartbreaking Ezra Miller as a young man charged with defending his sexual orientation against the world around him — breathe a life so vivid into Chbosky’s magical words, serving the story with just as much affect as the incarnates of yourself and your friends that you imagined to be fostering these roles upon first reading the book. From the softer, sweeter moments, to the dark and hard-to-watch turns, Perks is wholly real, reminding even those of us who read about and related to Charlie so many years ago just what it’s like to be him. And to feel, if only for a second, infinite.
Silver Linings Playbook (Picked By Anna Brand)
When you put Bradley Cooper in a movie without a strange baby and booze and smack a mental illness on him, doubts will soar. The same way Jennifer Lawrence without a bow and arrow undoubtedly creates skeptics. But leave it to these off-beat stars (with a 15-year age difference!) to bring seamless honesty and perfect chemistry. The blue collar setting – much like the director's The Fighter – is captured in such a relatable way it's almost desirable. Even though we get an ending as unrealistic as the time Matthew Mcconaughey chased down a taxi on a bridge and got to Kate Hudson just in time in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, it didn't take away from the thought-provoking story and spot-on acting. Not even a little bit. In fact, it was what we wanted all along.
Sleepwalk with Me (Picked By Michael Arbeiter)
Sleepwalk with Me is not at all just a celebration of standup comedian Mike Birbiglia, nor of standup comedy in general. It is a celebration of storytelling. Birbiglia channels his own ascension of the industry in this semi-fictional account of the comic’s early career, romantic relationships, and struggles with a chaotic sleep disorder. In the sentiment of the age-old “write what you know” adage, Birbiglia’s film expresses the philosophy that the greatest stories — be they funny or serious in nature — are those infused with the most honesty and intimacy. When Birbiglia’s author surrogate Matt Pandamiglia embraces his flaws and shortcomings, he learns just how much merit lies within the stories he has at his disposal. And beyond just influencing his career as a standup does this lesson influence his life — in the most laugh-out-loud and sincere fashion imaginable.
Zero Dark Thirty (Picked By Matt Patches)
Director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal continue to mine high drama from real life circumstances, following The Hurt Locker with a how-can-this-possibly-be-true true story behind the investigation that led to the assassination of Osama bin Laden. Like a modern All the President's Men, Zero Dark Thirty finds emotion in the facts, keeping us on the edge of our seats as Jessica Chastain's Maya loses herself (and her friends) to the hunt. We know how the story ends, but impressively, getting there never seems predictable.
The 5 Worst:
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Picked By Aly Semigran)
No one was in on the joke here. Not the audiences who wisely skipped out on the adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's comic novel of the same name and especially not filmmaker Timur Bekmamtebov, who played this dreck up as if it were a legitimate period piece without having his actors (including the talented, Benjamin Walker, who deserves better) so much as a wink or a nod to its overtly absurd premise. Joyless, poorly executed, and, considering it came out the same year as the masterful Lincoln, downright embarrassing.
Brave (Picked By Matt Patches)
Pixar's perfect streak took a major bump after Cars 2 and the hope was Brave, the animation studio's first fairy tale, could get them back on track. No dice. Princess Merida's tale had potential, but never ran with it, taking a hard left in the middle of Merida's cry for independence to explore a wacky tale of a Bear and her daughter. With a feeling of being slapped together, Brave missed the mark. Attribute it to high expectations — the film demands the scrutiny thanks to years of near-perfect work.
Chasing Mavericks (Picked By Brian Moylan)
A good movie should have sympathetic and interesting characters who follow a narrative arc. There should be development and consistency and rousing performances and new revelations about the human condition. In the absense of all of those there should at least be enough robots, lasers, superpowers, and aliens to keep you distracted for a couple of hours. Chasing Mavericks has none of those. Based on the true story of a young man whose neighbor teaches him to surf the biggest wave in California, this Gerard Butler vehicle lurches from scene to boring scene through some tired melodrama and stock sportsporational set pieces. Aside from some top-notch surfing footage this is a complete waste of time, even more so that there could be a revelatory story somewhere in there.
The Raven (Picked By Matt Patches)
With cinematography inspired by your local diner's split pea soup, writing at which airport mystery novelists would turn up their noses, and acting from the school of crazy Nic Cage, The Raven had all the pieces to be a so-bad-its-good cult classic. Instead, the Edgar Allen Poe serial killer flick is impenetrable dreck, the only reminder of the meandering film's stakes being John Cusack's hysterical (and overly repeated) scream of the name "EMILY!" every few minutes. Emily made a smart move — she disappeared from the movie.
The Master (Picked By Christian Blauvelt)
2012 had no greater “Emperor Has No Clothes” movie moment than The Master, a shallow, sodden character study about wayward sailor Freddie Quill (Joaquin Phoenix), a guy who likes to stand akimbo, jut out his jaw, and mumble unintelligibly (Phoenix’s sole acting choices) before and after falling under the thrall of an L. Ron Hubbard-style pseudo-philosopher (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s uncritical preoccupation with power, the select few who hold power, and everyone else who covets power, seems to have devolved into adolescent banality since his genuinely frightening depiction of Tom Cruise’s modern-day pied piper in Magnolia. Which is to say that it’s hard to imagine why any Scientologist, Cruise included, would be offended by anything in The Master. Anyone have some of Freddie Quill’s paint thinner so I can drown my sorrow about this mess of a film?
Or is it the best? (Picked By Matt Patches)
Anderson became the talk of the town in 2012 when he unveiled The Master's stunning 70mm photography, a picture quality so crisp and saturated that even if the film chased its narrative tail for two hours, the visuals would be enough of a pay off. Luckily, he had something incredible to capture in the wide-frame glory. Using religion as an entry point, The Master takes us as close to someone's internal monologue as an outsider can possibly get, with Phoenix and Hoffman's range of skills on full display as they unravel the imbecile Freddie and the seductive Lancaster Dodd. When clashed together, The Master becomes a tense match of wits. Who loses in the end is ambiguous, making the secrets of the human mind the heart of the film.
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2012 was a heated year for Presidential politics, with Barack Obama and Mitt Romney vying for the position of Commander-in-Chief and the battle of ideologies dominating every facet of pop culture. Movies and television also did their fair share of respectful homage-ing to the Head of State, with Daniel Day-Lewis' stirring portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in Spielberg's Lincoln (and the vampire-hunting alternative), Jordan Peele finding room to mock our sitting Prez in Key and Peele, and Bill Murray finding the swinger side of America's only four-termer, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in this weekend's Hyde Park on the Hudson. History teachers across the country have never been prouder of what they do than in the last 365 days.
Presidents were this year's hot item on the big and small screens, but pop culture has always been obsessed with dressing up actors to look like the men who fill our text books. Inspired by 2012's trend, Hollywood.com has combed through cinematic history to whip up this handy infographic, chronicling decades of Presidential appearances in pop culture. In the end, one thing is clear: Futurama did a lot in the name of presidential representation.
Check below the image for the key, revealing the actor assigned to each president.
Click to EnlargeDavid Morse as George Washington in John AdamsWilliam Daniels as John Adams in 1776Nick Nolte as Thomas Jefferson in Jefferson in ParisBurgess Meredith as James Madison in Magnificent DollMorgan Wallace as James Monroe in Alexander HamiltonAnthony Hopkins as John Quincy Adams in AmistadCharlton Heston as Andrew Jackson in The President's LadyNigel Hawthorne as Martin Van Buren in AmistadDavid Clennon as William Henry Harrison in Tecumseh (1994)John Tyler in FuturamaJames K. Polk in FuturamaJames Gammon as Zachary Taylor in One Man's HeroMillard Fillmore has never been portrayedFranklin Pierce in FuturamaJames Buchanan has never been portrayedDaniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in LincolnDennis Clark as Andrew Johnson in The ConspiratorKevin Kline as Ulysses S. Grant in Wild Wild WestJohn DiMaggio as Rutherford B. Hayes in FuturamaFrancis Sayles as James A. Garfield in The Night RidersMaurice LaMarche as Chester A. Arthur in Futurama Pat McCormick as Grover Cleveland in FuturamaRoy Gordon as Benjamin Harrison in FuturamaPat McCormick as Grover Cleveland in FuturamaBrian Keith as William McKinley in Rough RidersRobin Williams as Theodore Roosevelt in Night at the Museum: Battle of the SmithsonianWalter Massey as William Howard Taft in The Greatest Game Ever PlayedBob Gunton as Woodrow Wilson in Iron Jawed AngelsWarren G. Harding in FuturamaCalvin Coolidge in FuturamaHerbert Hoover in FuturamaBill Murray as Franklin D. Roosevelt in Hyde Park on the HudsonGary Sinise as Harry S. Truman in TrumanTom Selleck as Dwight D. Eisenhower in Ike: Countdown to D-DayBruce Greenwood as John F. Kennedy Thirteen DaysRandy Quaid as Lyndon B. Johnson in LBJ: The Early YearsDan Hedaya as Richard Nixon in DickDick Crockett as Gerald Ford in Pink Panther Strikes AgainDan Aykroyd as Jimmy Carter in Saturday Night LiveJames Brolin as Ronald Reagan in The ReagansJames Cromwell as George H. W. Bush in W.Dennis Quaid as Bill Clinton in The Special RelationshipTimothy Bottoms as George W. Bush in That's My Bush!Jordan Peele as Barack Obama in Key and Peele
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
[Photo Illustration by Hollywood.com; Photo Credits: Comedy Central (12); HBO (4); Columbia Pictures (2); Warner Bros (2); DreamWorks (2); 20th Century Fox (3); NBC(2); Touchstone Pictures; Universal Pictures; Turner Pictures; Paramount Pictures; Orion Pictures; Roadside Attractions; Republic Pictures; TNT; Buena Vista Pictures; Focus Features; A&amp;E; New Line; United Artists; Showtime; Lionsgate; iStockphoto]
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The Recording Academy has spoken, and the nominees list for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards is now set in stone. While the news of some nominees was cause for joyful jubilation — heck yeah, Frank Ocean! — the absence of others left legions of (mostly teenaged, Bieber-loving) fans heartbroken. Other additions to this year's nominations list, including an Urban Contemporary category, left us scratching our heads.
Since we're sure we are not alone in our confusion, we decided to tackle the most burning questions presented by the list of nominees for this year's Grammy Awards.
Who was snubbed this year?
Despite releasing new albums in 2012, teen pop sensations One Direction and Justin Bieber were denied nominations. Nicki Minaj and Christina Aguilera were also passed over, and many were surprised to see that Lana Del Rey's name was missing from the list of Best New Artist nominees.
What is Americana Music, and how is it different from Country Music?
We were surprised to see that country stands alone as its own genre, likely singled out due to its immense popularity, but Americana Music — the category under which the likes of Mumford &amp; Sons, the Avett Brothers, and John Fullbright are nominated this year — falls under the umbrella genre of "American Music" (as defined by the Grammy Awards). Also under the American Music title are the categories for Bluegrass, Blues, Folk, and Regional Roots. Interestingly, although Americana is grouped alongside these styles of music, it is actually a hybrid of all the aforementioned forms of American music — the separately grouped Country and Rock and Roll included — combining influences from the lot to produce something distinct. Also curious is that the “subjugated” Americana category seems to be swiping a few of the most popular artists in the game, most formidably Mumford &amp; Sons. Without figures like these in its grasp, Country’s luster might diminish in approaching years.
What the heck is the Urban Contemporary category?
New this year, the Urban Contemporary category — which includes nominees Chris Brown, Frank Ocean, and Miguel — is a sub-genre within the R&amp;B field. The Recording Academy defines it by saying, "Best Urban Contemporary Album is for albums containing at least 51 percent playing time of newly recorded contemporary vocal tracks derivative of R&amp;B. This category is intended for artists whose music includes the more contemporary elements of R&amp;B and may incorporate production elements found in urban pop, urban Euro-pop, urban rock, and urban alternative." Um, okay, sure. Thanks, Grammys, for making this unnecessarily and overly complicated.
Will Michelle Obama attend the February ceremony?
The First Lady is nominated for Best Spoken Word Album for her reading of American Grown. Is there a possibility that she will attend the ceremony? Maybe! While the odds are stacked against her — White House dwellers Bill and Hillary Clinton (not to mention Michelle's husband, Barack) have all won Grammys but neglected to attend the ceremony — there is one shining ray of hope. Former Vice President Al Gore attended the Grammys in 2007, two years before the reading of his book An Inconvenient Truth snagged the award. Michelle also attended the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards, so a FLOTUS awards show appearance isn't unheard of. Fingers are crossed on this one — imagine what she's wear!
If a song that's featuring an artist gets nominated, does the featured artist get to accept the trophy as well?
Yes! Well, if you want to get technical only "records" get awarded to the performer — "song" awards go to the songwriter (see below). But yes, the performers as well as the producer, recording engineer, and mixer all get to accept the award for Record Of The Year. Example: When "Smooth" by Carlos Santana featuring Rob Thomas won Record Of The Year in 2000, Mr. Thomas got to go up on stage.
Jack White earned three nominations this year. Where's Meg White now?
Crying, probably. Meg and Jack announced in February of 2011 that they would be retiring their band The White Stripes. Since then, Meg has remained out of the spotlight. One thing we know she's not doing now is preparing for a White Stripes reunion. Jack White said to NME in March of 2012 of a White Stripes comeback, "I would probably say absolutely not. Absolutely no chance … If we were forced to change our mind about that, I can only imagine the reason being if we went bankrupt or really needed the cash, which would be a really sad thing."
Will the name of Fiona Apple's album fit on the winner's index card?
Fans of Fiona Apple will know that Apple's currently nominated album, The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do (which is up for Best Alternative Music Album) isn't even Apple's longest album title. That distinction belongs to her 1999 album, usually abbreviated to When the Pawn…, which is actually a poem more than 400 characters long. If Apple wins, I imagine they will find a way to fit the title on the card. But, considering she's up against Gotye and Tom Waits, that's a big "if."
What is the eligibility period (a.k.a.: Why wasn't Red eligible for awards this year)?
For the 2013 awards, recordings (of singles and/or albums) had to be released between October 1, 2011 and September 30, 2012. Additionally, tracks or singles from the previous eligibility period may be entered in certain categories — but only if they were not entered in said category last year. Sorry TSwift fans, Red was released on October 22.
What is the difference between Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year?
Year after year, this is the most burning of all the questions. Therefore, we would like to answer it definitively. As such, this is lifted right from the Grammy.org FAQs page: "The Record Of The Year category recognizes the artist’s performance as well as the overall contributions of the producer(s), recording engineer(s) and/or mixer(s) if other than the artist. The Song Of The Year category recognizes the songwriter(s)." So there you have it.
Follow Abbey Stone on Twitter @abbeystone
[Photo Credit: WENN]
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